Chapter II

POWERS AND DUTIES

Art. 217. Jurisdiction of the Labor Arbiters and the Commission.

a. Except as otherwise provided under this Code, the Labor Arbiters shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to
hear and decide, within thirty (30) calendar days after the submission of the case by the parties for decision without
extension, even in the absence of stenographic notes, the following cases involving all workers, whether agricultural
or non-agricultural:

1. Unfair labor practice cases;

2. Termination disputes;

3. If accompanied with a claim for reinstatement, those cases that workers may file involving wages, rates
of pay, hours of work and other terms and conditions of employment;

4. Claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages arising from the employer-employee
relations;

5. Cases arising from any violation of Article 264 of this Code, including questions involving the legality of
strikes and lockouts; and

6. Except claims for Employees Compensation, Social Security, Medicare and maternity benefits, all other
claims arising from employer-employee relations, including those of persons in domestic or household
service, involving an amount exceeding five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) regardless of whether
accompanied with a claim for reinstatement.

b. The Commission shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all cases decided by Labor Arbiters.

c. Cases arising from the interpretation or implementation of collective bargaining agreements and those arising
from the interpretation or enforcement of company personnel policies shall be disposed of by the Labor Arbiter by
referring the same to the grievance machinery and voluntary arbitration as may be provided in said agreements. (As
amended by Section 9, Republic Act No. 6715, March 21, 1989)
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1. ADDITIONAL CASES

To the six (6) kinds of cases mentioned in Article 217, the following should be added:

1. Money claims arising out of employer-employee relationship or by virtue of any law or contract, involving Filipino
workers for overseas deployment, including claims for actual, moral, exemplary and other forms of damages, as well
as employment termination of OFWs;

2. Wage distortion disputes in unorganized establishments not voluntarily settled by the parties pursuant to Republic
Act No. 6727, as reflected in Article 124;

3. Enforcement of compromise agreements when there is non-compliance by any of the parties pursuant to Article
227 of the Labor Code, as amended; and

4. Other cases as may be provided by law.

2. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION BY LABOR ARBITERS

In its broad sense, arbitration is the reference of a dispute to an impartial third person, chosen by the parties or
appointed by statutory authority to hear and decide the case in controversy. When the consent of one of the parties
is enforced by statutory provisions, the proceeding is referred to as compulsory arbitration. In labor cases,
compulsory arbitration is the process of settlement of labor disputes by a government agency which has the
authority to investigate and to make an award which is binding on all the parties.

2.1 NLRC Appellate Proceedings Not Part of Arbitration

Under the Labor Code, it is the Labor Arbiter who is clothed with the authority to conduct compulsory arbitration on
cases involving termination disputes and other cases under Art. 217.

When the Labor Arbiter renders his decision, compulsory arbitration is deemed terminated because by then the
hearing and determination of the controversy has ended.

2.2 Nature of Proceedings

The NLRC Rules describe the proceedings before the Labor Arbiter as non-litigious. Subject to the requirements of
due process, the technicalities of law and procedure in the regular courts do not apply in NLRC/labor arbiter
proceedings (Art. 221). The arbiter may avail himself of all reasonable means, including ocular inspection, to
ascertain the facts speedily; he shall personally conduct the conference or hearings and take full control of the
proceedings. (Rule V, Sec. 2, NLRC 2005 Rules of Procedure)

2.3 Article 217 Yields to Arts. 2611 and 2622

3. LABOR ARBITER’S JURISDICTION, IN GENERAL

The cases labor arbiter can hear and decide are employment-related.

3.1 Supervisory Control, Crucial

Control over the performance of the work is the crucial indicator of employment relationship, without which the
labor arbiter has no jurisdiction over the dispute.

It is well-settled in law and jurisprudence that where no employer-employee relationship exists between the parties
and no issue is involved which may be resolved by reference to the Labor Code, other labor statutes, or any collective
bargaining agreement, it is the Regional Trial Court that has jurisdiction.

4. VENUE

The NLRC Rules of Procedure provides:

Section 1. Venue. - a) All cases which Labor Arbiters have authority to hear and decide may be filed in the Regional Arbitration
Branch having jurisdiction over the workplace of the complainant or petitioner.

For purposes of venue, the workplace shall be understood as the place or locality where the employee is regularly assigned at
the time the cause of action arose. It shall include the place where the employee is supposed to report back after a temporary
detail, assignment, or travel. In case of field employees, as well as ambulant or itinerant workers, their workplace is where they
are regularly assigned, or where they are supposed to regularly receive their salaries and wages or work instructions from, and
report the results of their assignment to, their employers.

1 A voluntary arbitrator, under Art. 261, has “original and exclusive”

jurisdiction over disputes concerning CBA implementation or personnel policy
enforcement.
2 In addition, under Art. 262, the parties may submit to a voluntary arbitrator (or panel) “all other disputes including unfair labor practices and

bargaining deadlocks.
b) Where two (2) or more Regional Arbitration Branches have jurisdiction over the workplace of the complainant or petitioner,
the Branch that first acquired jurisdiction over the case shall exclude the others.

c) When venue is not objected to before the filling of position papers such issue shall be deemed waived.

d) The venue of an action may be changed or transferred to a different Regional Arbitration Branch other than where the
complaint was filed by written agreement of the parties or when the Commission or Labor Arbiter before whom the case is
pending so orders, upon motion by the proper party in meritorious cases.

e) Cases involving overseas Filipino workers may be filed before the Regional Arbitration Branch having jurisdiction over the place
where the complainant resides or where the principal office of any of the respondents is situated, at the option of the
complainant.

4.1 Worker’s Option

The worker, being the economically-disadvantaged party—whether as complainant/petitioner or as respondent, as

the case may be—the nearest governmental machinery to settle the dispute must be placed at his immediate
disposal.

4.2 Waiver

The 2005 NLRC Rules, in Sec. 1(c), Rule IV states: “When venue is not objected to before the filling of position papers
such issue shall be deemed waived.”